She took world-class city beyond a slogan
From Flyovers And Metro Launch To Citizen Initiatives, Sheila Oversaw It All
Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:21.07.2019
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who passed away on Saturday afternoon, is remembered for making “world-class city” more than a slogan. The transformative story plays out in the many flyovers, launch of the Delhi Metro rail network and outreach to the civil society through the Bhagidari movement steered by residents’ welfare associations. The initiatives caught the popular imagination and paid political dividends as she grew in stature.
Sheila’s last political battle was her toughest challenge as she was constantly at odds with party functionaries determined to ally with AAP. She doubted AAP’s desire for an alliance and felt hurt when attempts were made to override her authority. More recently, she was distressed by reports of the party she had served for so long reducing her importance through a series of organisational actions.
She managed to raise hopes of a revival and a better performance in the assembly polls in 2020 and even a better bargain in case negotiations with AAP are renewed. But her death has left Congress without a face and a big void as there is no leader who would be able to generate consensus and become a rallying point in a tired and weather-beaten party.
In an interview to TOIafter the election results in May, Sheila was quick to take responsibility for defeat. On the Congress story, she was hopeful. “You get the kudos and brickbats. This is part of politics. The Congress is in the midst of a challenge but we shall overcome this too,” she said.
She was a spirited fighter with sharp administrative skills and political acumen that could out-think most rivals. Even when the already unmet deadlines for the 2010 Commonwealth Games appeared hard to achieve in the midst of an unrelenting monsoon, Sheila was seen personally overseeing cleaning operations at the Commonwealth Games Village.
But this was also the beginning of a downward slide. There were unrelenting attacks on corruption with the build-up of the Anna Hazare movement and birth of the Aam Aadmi Party. Her one-time success in privatising Delhi’s electricity distribution was also attacked for favouring private firms. Sheila was also at the receiving end of public anger that followed the Nirbhaya gangrape case of December 2012.
Sheila’s infamous dismissal of AAP as “monsoon pests”, clubbed with a strong anti-incumbency and anti-corruption campaigns, ended her innings in the assembly election of 2013. She was ruthlessly ousted as the New Delhi MLA by current CM Arvind Kejriwal. However, Sheila was never publicly bitter about being thrown into the storm again and again by her party.
From her debut in politics as MP from Kannauj in 1984, Sheila’s political journey was nothing short of dramatic, marked by an unprecedented rise, a steep fall and a comeback of sorts where Congress president Rahul Gandhi put his faith in her. Her last battle was fought from the seat that also happened to be her first parliamentary foray in Delhi in 1998. Congress’s success in the assembly in what came to be known as the “onion election” ousted BJP, which is yet to win the city polls since then.
The “outsider” got the better of stalwarts like Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. The opposition was then dominated by heavyweights like former CMs Madanlal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma. She won her spurs by taking tough decisions on implementing the Supreme Court verdict on relocating polluting industries and then implementing the shift of public transport to CNG. There was a softer side to Sheila too as she focused on mindset-change by greening up the city, ‘say no to firecrackers’ campaign and working to highlight the culture of the city through the now famous “Delhi festivals”.
The years that followed saw her groom leaders as well as part ways with some of them. Former minister Ajay Maken was one of them. There were others who dithered but many stuck by her. She could be decisive in her politics as she decided to cut municipal bosses to size by controversially trifurcating the municipal corporation.
Sidelined after the 2013 election debacle till the January of 2019, Sheila was seen in the shadows of a party that was struggling to find its bearings in the city. That she believed in giving back to her party what she had received comes through in her response to a question TOI asked her before elections. Asked whether being the face of the party worried her, Sheila said, “Life is a risk. Even crossing a road is risky. So, I am not afraid. At this stage of life, I don’t have any personal ambition but I want to do this because I owe it to my party. This party has given me so much. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made me a minister in the Union Cabinet and so much has happened since then.”
SPIRITED FIGHTER: Sheila had sharp administrative skills and political acumen to out-think most rivals
From Flyovers And Metro Launch To Citizen Initiatives, Sheila Oversaw It All
Ambika.Pandit@timesgroup.com
New Delhi:21.07.2019
Former Delhi chief minister Sheila Dikshit, who passed away on Saturday afternoon, is remembered for making “world-class city” more than a slogan. The transformative story plays out in the many flyovers, launch of the Delhi Metro rail network and outreach to the civil society through the Bhagidari movement steered by residents’ welfare associations. The initiatives caught the popular imagination and paid political dividends as she grew in stature.
Sheila’s last political battle was her toughest challenge as she was constantly at odds with party functionaries determined to ally with AAP. She doubted AAP’s desire for an alliance and felt hurt when attempts were made to override her authority. More recently, she was distressed by reports of the party she had served for so long reducing her importance through a series of organisational actions.
She managed to raise hopes of a revival and a better performance in the assembly polls in 2020 and even a better bargain in case negotiations with AAP are renewed. But her death has left Congress without a face and a big void as there is no leader who would be able to generate consensus and become a rallying point in a tired and weather-beaten party.
In an interview to TOIafter the election results in May, Sheila was quick to take responsibility for defeat. On the Congress story, she was hopeful. “You get the kudos and brickbats. This is part of politics. The Congress is in the midst of a challenge but we shall overcome this too,” she said.
She was a spirited fighter with sharp administrative skills and political acumen that could out-think most rivals. Even when the already unmet deadlines for the 2010 Commonwealth Games appeared hard to achieve in the midst of an unrelenting monsoon, Sheila was seen personally overseeing cleaning operations at the Commonwealth Games Village.
But this was also the beginning of a downward slide. There were unrelenting attacks on corruption with the build-up of the Anna Hazare movement and birth of the Aam Aadmi Party. Her one-time success in privatising Delhi’s electricity distribution was also attacked for favouring private firms. Sheila was also at the receiving end of public anger that followed the Nirbhaya gangrape case of December 2012.
Sheila’s infamous dismissal of AAP as “monsoon pests”, clubbed with a strong anti-incumbency and anti-corruption campaigns, ended her innings in the assembly election of 2013. She was ruthlessly ousted as the New Delhi MLA by current CM Arvind Kejriwal. However, Sheila was never publicly bitter about being thrown into the storm again and again by her party.
From her debut in politics as MP from Kannauj in 1984, Sheila’s political journey was nothing short of dramatic, marked by an unprecedented rise, a steep fall and a comeback of sorts where Congress president Rahul Gandhi put his faith in her. Her last battle was fought from the seat that also happened to be her first parliamentary foray in Delhi in 1998. Congress’s success in the assembly in what came to be known as the “onion election” ousted BJP, which is yet to win the city polls since then.
The “outsider” got the better of stalwarts like Jagdish Tytler and Sajjan Kumar. The opposition was then dominated by heavyweights like former CMs Madanlal Khurana and Sahib Singh Verma. She won her spurs by taking tough decisions on implementing the Supreme Court verdict on relocating polluting industries and then implementing the shift of public transport to CNG. There was a softer side to Sheila too as she focused on mindset-change by greening up the city, ‘say no to firecrackers’ campaign and working to highlight the culture of the city through the now famous “Delhi festivals”.
The years that followed saw her groom leaders as well as part ways with some of them. Former minister Ajay Maken was one of them. There were others who dithered but many stuck by her. She could be decisive in her politics as she decided to cut municipal bosses to size by controversially trifurcating the municipal corporation.
Sidelined after the 2013 election debacle till the January of 2019, Sheila was seen in the shadows of a party that was struggling to find its bearings in the city. That she believed in giving back to her party what she had received comes through in her response to a question TOI asked her before elections. Asked whether being the face of the party worried her, Sheila said, “Life is a risk. Even crossing a road is risky. So, I am not afraid. At this stage of life, I don’t have any personal ambition but I want to do this because I owe it to my party. This party has given me so much. Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi made me a minister in the Union Cabinet and so much has happened since then.”
SPIRITED FIGHTER: Sheila had sharp administrative skills and political acumen to out-think most rivals
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